Defining Neurodiversity: Vocabulary Guide (Download)

When considering the realm of neurodiversity there are many new terms that may come up as you learn more about neurodevelopmental conditions like Autism, ADHD, or others. This is not an exhaustive list of terms but is a guide for many of the most common terms related to neurodiversity and those conditions. Read the full list below or download a free copy of the Neurodiversity Vocabulary Guide for future reference here. Please give us feedback if there are terms you think we should add to the list!

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): One of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders, ADHD is characterized by a persistent pattern of inattention, impulsivity, and/or hyperactivity that is inappropriate for a person’s developmental level Symptoms usually begin in childhood and often continue into adulthood, causing difficulties in school, work, or daily life if not managed.

Alexithymia: A trait involving significant difficulty in recognizing, understanding, and describing one’s own emotions. A person with alexithymia isn’t “emotionless” but struggles to identify feelings and express them, a phenomenon often noted in autistic individuals or those with trauma; it is not a formal disorder on its own.

Asperger Syndrome (outdated): A former diagnosis once applied to autistic individuals with average or above-average intelligence and no significant language delays. Today this term is no longer used as a separate diagnosis – since 2013 it has been subsumed under Autism Spectrum Disorder (Level 1 ASD). Some adults may still identify as “Asperger’s” or “Aspie,” but broadly it’s agreed that Asperger syndrome is part of the autism spectrum and does not require a distinct label.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): A neurodevelopmental condition caused by differences in brain development. Autism is characterized by challenges in social communication and interaction, along with restricted and repetitive behaviors or interests. It is a “spectrum” because it presents with a wide range of traits and support needs, and it often co-occurs with sensory sensitivities and other conditions (like anxiety or ADHD).

AuDHD: An informal term combining Autism and ADHD, used to describe individuals who are both autistic and have ADHD. This dual neurotype highlights the overlapping traits and unique profile that comes from having both conditions; in fact, research indicates that a large proportion of autistic people (50–70%) also meet criteria for ADHD.

Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD / Dyspraxia): A neurodevelopmental disorder affecting physical coordination and motor skills. Children with DCD (often called dyspraxia) struggle with planning and executing movements – they may appear clumsy and perform daily tasks (like buttoning a shirt, handwriting, or riding a bike) less easily than peers their age. These motor difficulties are not due to general medical conditions or intelligence, and while kids with DCD can improve with therapy, mild coordination issues may persist into adulthood nhs.ukncbi.nlm.nih.gov.

Dysautonomia: An umbrella term for disorders of the autonomic nervous system, which controls automatic body functions like heart rate, blood pressure, digestion, and temperature regulation. In dysautonomia, these processes don’t work correctly – for example, a person might experience dizziness, fainting, rapid heartbeat, or blood pressure swings because their autonomic nervous system isn’t properly maintaining stability. Dysautonomia often appears in conditions like postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) and can co-occur with connective tissue disorders (e.g. Ehlers-Danlos syndrome).

Dyscalculia: A specific learning disability in mathematics, involving difficulty understanding number-related concepts and performing calculations. Someone with dyscalculia may struggle with basic number sense, math facts, and problem-solving to a degree that is unexpected for their age and education, despite having typical intelligence in other areas.

Dysgraphia: A specific learning disability that impairs a person’s writing abilities, particularly handwriting and spelling. An individual with dysgraphia may have trouble forming letters clearly, organizing their thoughts on paper, and writing at an age-expected speed – issues that can interfere with schoolwork or note-taking, even though oral language skills and intelligence are unaffected.

Dyslexia: A common specific learning disability that affects reading and language processing. Dyslexia is neurobiological in origin and is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and decoding (phonics), often accompanied by poor spelling. These challenges can lead to problems in reading comprehension and academic learning, despite the person having normal intelligence and adequate instruction.

Executive Function: A set of cognitive processes that help regulate behavior and enable goal-directed activities. These mental skills – which include working memory, flexible thinking, planning/organization, and inhibitory control – allow a person to plan, focus attention, remember instructions, and juggle multiple tasks. Difficulties with executive function (sometimes called executive dysfunction) can manifest as disorganization, poor impulse control, or trouble completing tasks, as often seen in ADHD and other neurodevelopmental conditions.

Hyperfocus: An intense state of concentration on a specific task or interest, to the point where a person becomes oblivious to their surroundings for an extended period. Hyperfocus is often discussed in ADHD – for example, someone with ADHD might become so engrossed in a video game or hobby that they lose track of time – and while it can be productive, it may cause the person to neglect other responsibilities or stimuli around them.

Hyperlexia: A learning difference in which a young child develops advanced reading skills beyond their expected age. A child with hyperlexia might start reading very early (sometimes by age 2 or 3) and show an intense fascination with letters or numbers. Hyperlexia often co-occurs with autism – the child can decode or read text well above their age level, but may have difficulty with reading comprehension or typical speech and social skills.

Hypermobility: In a general sense, hypermobility means that some or all of a person’s joints have an unusually large range of motion (“double-jointedness”). Many people have benign joint hypermobility with no issues, but in some individuals hypermobility comes with joint pain, frequent sprains or dislocations, and other symptoms. In such cases it may be part of a connective tissue disorder like Ehlers-Danlos syndrome or a Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder, where overly loose joints lead to instability and associated problems.

Intellectual Disability (ID): A neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by significant limitations in both intellectual functioning and adaptive behavior (practical and social skills), originating during the developmental period . In practice, an individual with ID has an IQ roughly below 70 and struggles with everyday tasks like communication, self-care, or independent living. Severity can range from mild to profound, and appropriate support and education can help individuals with ID develop skills and improve quality of life.

Masking (Camouflaging): “Masking” refers to strategies some neurodivergent people (especially autistic individuals) use to consciously or unconsciously hide their autistic traits and appear more neurotypical. This might include suppressing stimming, forcing eye contact, imitating social small talk or facial expressions, and generally camouflaging one’s natural behaviors in order to blend in. While masking can help an autistic person navigate certain social or work situations, it often comes at a cost to mental health, leading to exhaustion or identity confusion.

Meltdown: An intense stress response seen in many autistic people (and some others with sensory or emotional regulation differences) when they become completely overwhelmed by a situation. A meltdown involves a temporary loss of behavioral control – it may manifest as crying, shouting, screaming, self-injury, or other extreme expressions of distress. Unlike a willful temper tantrum, a meltdown is an involuntary reaction to overload (sensory, emotional, etc.) and indicates the person has exceeded their capacity to cope in that moment.

Neurodevelopmental Disorder: An umbrella term for a group of conditions that begin in early brain development and cause impairments in personal, social, academic, or occupational functioning. Neurodevelopmental disorders include autism spectrum disorder, ADHD, intellectual disability, communication and learning disorders, Tourette syndrome, and others. They often persist throughout the lifespan (though symptoms may change with age) and require supportive interventions, as these conditions affect how the brain processes information, learns skills, or controls behavior.

Neurodivergent (ND): An adjective describing a person whose neurological development is atypical – in other words, their brain processes, learns, or behaves in ways that diverge from the presumed “norm”. This term covers individuals with autism, ADHD, dyslexia, Tourette’s, and other developmental differences, and frames these variations as natural forms of human diversity rather than deficits. A neurodivergent person may have unique strengths and challenges linked to how their brain works.

Neurodiversity: The concept that not all brains are the same and that neurological differences (such as autism, ADHD, dyslexia, etc.) are natural variations of the human genome. Under the neurodiversity paradigm, conditions like these are not “diseases” to be cured but part of normal human diversity, similar to how biodiversity values different forms of life. The neurodiversity movement advocates that society accept and accommodate these differences, focusing on supports and inclusivity rather than trying to make neurodivergent people “normal”.

Neurotypical (NT): A term referring to individuals whose neurodevelopmental profile falls within societal norms (i.e. not neurodivergent). A neurotypical person does not have a developmental neurological condition like autism or ADHD, and they process information and behave in ways that culture deems standard. In everyday usage, “neurotypical” basically means “not on the autism spectrum or otherwise neurodivergent.”

Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA): A proposed profile on the autism spectrum characterized by an extreme avoidance of everyday demands and expectations due to high anxiety about losing autonomy. Individuals with PDA appear obsessively resistant to ordinary requests (even things they want to do) – they might withdraw, make excuses, negotiate, or have panic-driven meltdowns to avoid direct demands. This behavior is believed to be driven by an intense need for control and fear of being overwhelmed, rather than simple oppositional defiance.

Prosopagnosia (Face Blindness): A neurological disorder characterized by the inability to recognize familiar faces, including one’s own reflection, despite normal vision and memory. People with prosopagnosia must rely on non-facial cues (voices, hair, gait, context, etc.) to identify others, which can be socially challenging. Prosopagnosia can be acquired (after brain injury) or developmental (present from early life), and it sometimes co-occurs with autism or other cognitive conditions that affect visual processing.

Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD): A term for the tendency to experience an extreme emotional reaction to perceived rejection or criticism. In RSD, even minor or imagined criticisms can trigger intense feelings of shame, sadness, or anger that are far more severe than a typical response. It’s commonly associated with ADHD – individuals with ADHD and RSD may go to great lengths to avoid criticism or disappointment, and episodes of RSD can be misinterpreted as mood disorder symptoms due to the sudden, disproportionate emotional pain.

Savant Syndrome: A rare condition in which a person with serious developmental or intellectual disabilities possesses an extraordinary ability or area of knowledge, often in memory-related skills like calculations, art, or music. For example, an autistic individual who is non-speaking might nonetheless be able to play the piano masterfully or compute complex calendars mentally. These “islands of genius” stand out against the backdrop of the person’s other challenges; savant syndrome is uncommon but is most frequently observed in autistic people or those with certain brain injuries.

Selective Mutism: An anxiety disorder in which a child can speak normally in some settings but cannot speak in specific social situations due to extreme anxiety. For instance, a child with selective mutism might chat freely at home but consistently fall silent at school or with unfamiliar people. This is not willful refusal; the child literally feels “frozen” and unable to talk in certain environments, and overcoming it involves easing their anxiety and building confidence in those settings.

Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD): A condition where the brain has trouble processing and responding to sensory information, leading to atypical sensitivities. A person with SPD might be over-responsive (e.g. finding ordinary sounds, lights, or textures painfully overwhelming) or under-responsive (not reacting much to stimuli that others find intense). Such sensory processing differences can make everyday environments challenging – for example, routine noises might cause distress or, conversely, the person might seek excessive sensory input. While not an official standalone diagnosis in manuals, SPD is commonly seen in autistic individuals and others, and occupational therapy is often used to help regulate sensory responses.

Shutdown: In an autistic context, a shutdown is a coping response to overwhelm where the person withdraws completely and may become non-responsive. It’s essentially the quieter counterpart to a meltdown. During a shutdown, an autistic individual might stop speaking, avoid interaction, and appear to “zone out” or go inert – this happens when they are overloaded by stress or sensory input to such a degree that the brain sort of “powers down” to protect itself r. Shutdowns can last for minutes or longer and indicate that the person needs space and recovery time.

Stimming (Self-Stimulatory Behavior for Regulation): Repetitive movements, actions, or sounds that stimulate the senses, often used by neurodivergent people to self-soothe or regulate sensory input. Common stims include hand-flapping, rocking back and forth, humming or repeating phrases, finger-flicking, or staring at rotating objects. While anyone might engage in some form of stimming (e.g. hair-twirling when bored), it’s especially associated with autism and ADHD as a way to manage emotions or sensory sensations – it’s usually harmless and calming for the individual. In some rarer cases there are instances of more harmful stimming (slapping at oneself, pulling own hair, etc.) only in the instances of self harming should stimming be discouraged, because even in those extreme examples, for some neurodivergent brains they are seeking the stimulation they feel they need in the moment to restore regulation to their nervous system.

Tourette Syndrome (TS): A neurodevelopmental tic disorder characterized by multiple involuntary motor tics and at least one vocal tic, emerging in childhood. A tic is a sudden, rapid movement or sound (like blinking, throat-clearing, or twitching) that the person feels a strong urge to perform. In Tourette Syndrome, tics wax and wane in intensity but persist for over a year. The condition typically begins by early school age and often improves in late adolescence or adulthood, though some people have lifelong tics. People with TS may also have co-occurring conditions like ADHD or OCD. Management involves education, behavioral techniques, and sometimes medication to help control troublesome tics.

Twice-Exceptional (2e): A term used in education to describe individuals who are gifted (demonstrating high ability or intelligence) and have one or more disabilities or neurodivergent conditions. For example, a 2e student might have superior math ability but also dyslexia, or be highly creative while also autistic. These overlapping traits can mask one another – the child’s giftedness might compensate for their disability or vice versa – making identification tricky. Twice-exceptional students benefit from teaching approaches that nurture their talents and support their learning or social/emotional needs.

Additional Community Recognized Terms

Allistic: A slang term meaning “not autistic.” Allistic was coined within autistic communities to refer to people who are neurologically typical with respect to autism. Note that allistic doesn’t necessarily mean neurotypical – for instance, a person with ADHD but not autism is allistic (because they’re not on the autism spectrum) yet also neurodivergent. In short, allistic = non-autistic.

Aspie: An informal nickname for a person with Asperger syndrome Many autistic adults who were diagnosed with Asperger’s in the past embraced “Aspie” as an identity term or term of endearment. Nowadays, since Asperger’s is no longer a separate diagnosis, usage of Aspie is less common (and some consider it outdated), though you will still see individuals in online communities lovingly refer to themselves or others as “Aspies”

Hyperfixation: A casual term often used to describe a short-term but intense fixation on a particular interest. Someone experiencing a hyperfixation might obsess over a new hobby, topic, or media for days or weeks, immersing themselves in it to an extreme degree, and then suddenly lose interest. The term is frequently mentioned in ADHD communities (as a counterpart to the longer-term “special interests” more typical of autism) – an ADHD hyperfixation can last only a few hours or months and then switch to something else. During the hyperfixation period, the person derives a lot of enjoyment or focus from the interest, sometimes to the detriment of other tasks.

Neurotypical (NT) / Neurodivergent (ND): Shorthand abbreviations commonly used in neurodiversity discussions. NT means neurotypical, referring to individuals with no neurodevelopmental diagnoses – essentially “typical” brains. ND means neurodivergent, referring to those who have a neurodevelopmental difference. For example, in an autistic community forum you might read, “My parents are NT, but I’m ND.” These abbreviations provide a quick way to distinguish lived experiences (especially online) and are embraced as neutral descriptors.

Download a free copy of the Neurodiversity Vocabulary Guide for future reference here